Introduced in 2009, the laws were the first step in plans to have 25 per cent of Italy’s electricity supplied by nuclear power by 2030.

But concerns over the recent nuclear meltdown in Japan prompted more than 90 per cent of Italian voters to abandon nuclear power, just as they did at a referendum in 1987 following the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown.

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Several ASX-listed uranium explorers watched their share price fall on the news, with Paladin Energy falling 18¢ to $2.61 and Energy Resources of Australia falling 21¢ to $4.04.

Falls were also recorded by Toro Energy, Extract Resources, Marathon Resources, Marengo Mining and Bannerman Resources. Many of those companies have watched their market capitalisation more than halve since the Fukushima disaster in March.

Energia Minerals — whose share price fell 1¢ to 9¢ — will be directly affected by the Italian decision given the company’s plan to develop two uranium projects in the Lake Como region of northern Italy.

Energia lodged applications for the projects with Italian authorities in 2009, and the play was focused on supplying a revived Italian nuclear industry that was expected to emerge from the 2009 law changes.

Despite the Italian nuclear market disappearing after Monday’s vote, Energia managing director Keren Paterson said the projects might still be viable given the strong nuclear industries in neighbouring countries like France.

‘‘[The Italian vote] has removed the domestic market, but there is still very much a market for uranium,’’ she said, stressing that the referendum did not outlaw mining for uranium in Italy.

Italy’s decision follows Germany’s vow to close its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022, while Switzerland plans to close its three reactors about a decade later. More than a third of Japan’s 55 reactors have been temporarily shut down, and their future remains unclear.

The negative sentiment in Europe is at odds with the nuclear ambitions of many nations in Asia and the Middle East. Last week Saudi Arabia revealed plans to build 16 reactors by 2030, while China, India, Russia, the UAE and South Korea have also vowed to increase their reliance on nuclear power in coming decades.

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Toro Energy managing director Greg Hall said the Italian decision would get a lot of attention but was not globally significant for the future of nuclear power.

‘‘It has a high impact publicly, and on the short-term perceptions of the market ... but it has very little impact on long-term uranium supply, in fact virtually none,’’ he said.